Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by zeledonia:

Tasted 17 July 2013. Don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to drinking this, but a barleywine shouldn't change all that much.

Pours a clear medium orange-amber. One finger off-white head, decent retention and lacing. Not a whole lot of visible carbonation. Not bad, not great.

Smell is delightfully sweet and sugary, without being quite candy-like. Like toned-down Southern Comfort, but better. Like sugar-coated fruit, apricots and such, with a grainy background. Hops are barely detectable here.

Taste is all barleywine, though at the moment I'm struggling to parse exactly what that means. Big malts, semi-sweet and robust, with both moderate earthy hops and alcohol providing a medium-gentle bitter wave. The bitterness balances the sweetness nicely, yielding a sort of half-American, half-English barleywine. Tasty, nothing sticking out positive or negative.

Feel is fine. Heavy-bodied, weighty and hefty. Carbonation is good, right on the level it should be. Good and unobtrusive, but not adding much.

A very tasty barleywine, right in the middle of the sweet to bitter spectrum, a shade towards the sweet end. I'm digging it, and my glass is quickly emptied.

Taste: Fairly similar to the aroma. This is a sweet, malt driven Barleywine, with loads of dark fruit, toffee, caramelized sugar, and raisins. However, there are definite notes of citrus and spice from the hops. The hops provide depth of flavor, but not much bitterness, so it remains mostly on the sweet end of the spectrum.

Feel: Fairly heavy and full bodied, with carbonation staying in check. There are some small drying notes at the end that keeps the mouthfeel out of cloying territory.

Overall: This is a delicious, fairly easy sipping Barleywine. Not the monstrous American-style Barleywine that initial descriptions conveyed, but that's okay because the malts are great and the citrusy hops do add nice nuances. Overall, this is a nice Barleywine that exhibits aspects of both the English and American sub-styles. And not that this impacts my score, but this is a great value at $10 a six pack.

I think this is the cheapest barleywine out there today. Under $10 for a 6 pack. Funny that this has a BB date of 072113, I think Schell's just stamps a 6 month BB date on all their beers regardless of what's inside. Anyway. Poured into a snifter this brew gives you a thin finger of white tiny bubbled head with weak retention and lacing. Brilliantly clear with a really attractive dark copper color. Aroma cold is weak-some ripe dried fruits (prunes) with an alcohol bite. Malty-not much else.

Initial taste is sweet and malty-pleasant. A big malt bomb. Lacks complexity but good flavor, quick finish and a little too easy to drink.

A bit more carbonation than most barleywines-but I think it is appropriate with this beer. Definitely light in body, yet the alcohol isn't oppressive making this a dangerous concoction. I can see this beer getting the best of most of us who tempt fate drinking this and forgetting about the near 10% ABV. The body could be thicker and smoother-we'll see if age helps round it out a bit but I'm not sure if aging will do this beer much good. Luckily, it's pretty good now.

Loving the Stag Series beers. This one and the citra pils warrant a yearly appearance. Impressive. Keep em coming Schells!

Appearance: Pours a deep copper amber orange with a moderate amount of bubbles. About one finger of off white head that slowly fades into a thin creamy layer. Leaves a good amount of lacing around the glass.

Smell: A fairly big and strong aroma of sweet malts and citrus hop esters. Bready toasted malts with big hints of sweet caramel, toffee, biscuit, and yeast. Some brown sugar adds to the sweetness. Also in the mix are some earthy, herbal hops with hints of citrus orange peel, grapefruit, and lemon. Leans more to the malty side. Also a light scent of oak. Pretty solid aroma.

Taste: Follows the nose with a big taste of sweet malts with a decent profile of earthy and citrus hops. Big toasty taste of malts with notes of sweet caramel, toffee, biscuit, and yeast. Some brown sugar sweetness and light notes of oak and apple fruit. Also some noticeable hops with notes of earthy grass, herbal hops, and some citrus orange, lemon, and grapefruit. Alcohol taste is pretty minimal for a Barleywine. Solid overall taste.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation. Creamy and chewy. Smooth and the alcohol heat is really tame for a fresh Barleywine.

Overall: A pretty good take on the style. One might think that it already has some age on it as it comes out of the gate very smooth for the style, but its not thin by any means. Nice malty taste.

Pours a clear copper color with one finger of head that settles to a thin cap. Moderate amount of spotty lacing is left down the glass.

Strong malty aroma. Plenty of caramel and toffee. Some fruity esters as well. Not much from the hops and the alcohol is well masked.

Sweet malt flavor dominates. I get caramel, bread, and brown sugar encrusted raisins. Far more influence from the yeast than the hops. Surprised by the IBU level in fact as the hop bitterness is no match for the malt sweetness. Bit of heat and from alcohol in the finish. About the only thing that keeps this beer from being cloying.

Body feels lighter than it should. I would put it at medium but at this ABV I expected a little more. Nice carbonation gives a pleasant texture.

Schell's describes this as an assertively hopped American Barleywine. I would describe it as English Barleywine minus the fabulous English hops. Maybe the hops did not perform the way the brewer anticipated, which is too bad because I would of liked the taste of some Nugget hops.

Reddish amber, bright clarity, the occasional bubble or two rising upwards. Sticky sudsy lacing around the edges, a thin veil remains before sipping, and a collar around the edges.

Aroma is sweet with bread crusts and caramel, mild toffee and a floral note.Flavors are similar, bleeding into marzipan and vanilla extract territory, maybe some almond shortbread. Rich and full bodied, mellow carbonation with a minor alcohol sting, sticky on the lips. Lightly floral in the aftertaste, suggesting the use of hops in thebrewing process.

This is reminiscent of Point's barleywine, but it has a bit more finesse.

Great looking beer - looks like a glass of iced tea with an appropriate thin film of slightly off-white head that laces well.

The nose shows a nice balance of caramel sweetness, fruity hops, toasted grain and faint vanilla. The boys at Schell's never seem to fail when it comes to brewing a thoughtful, balanced beer.

It seems like a strictly malt focused beer on the first sip, but once you get comfortable the other flavors surface. There's some smooth tropical hop contributions that play nicely against a vanilla/tobacco malt base. I can dig it.

This is a solid beer for sure. I'm not always on board with Schell's but the Stag Series has yet to let me down.

T - Thick caramel and crystal malts. Not as hoppy as I'd guessed. Very sweet. Alcohol is evident throughout and it warms on the way down. Doughy yeast are faint. Definitely a sipper, but well built. I'm glad that strange note I found on the nose is gone.

M - Thick and smooth. Alcoholic on the finish.

D - Takes a hit for drinkability, but it's a good barleywine. A little sweet for my tastes. Note entirely unique or remarkable, but a fair example of the style.

Appearance: Orange/copper color with really nice clarity and some effervescence floating towards a film of creamy off-white head.

Aroma: A nice balance here, amber malt, a touch of rye (or maybe that's the slight tinge of alcohol), a touch of hop nectar, and an overall sweet quality. Not super aromatic but pleasant.

Taste: Flavor matches the aroma with a nice amber malt sweetness in the first half. Then a subtle but strong bitterness creeps onto your palate in the second half. The hop character is an interesting mix of earthy notes with faint citrus flavors echoing in the background. It does a good job of balancing out what would otherwise be a very sweet Barleywine. The hop bitterness seems to combine with the heat from the 9.5% ABV and makes for a rich finish. The aftertaste is all bitterness. The first few sips were less than impressive but as I drink more and it warms, the flavors develop nicely and you really get a feel for how impressive this style can be when all of the flavors are balanced.

Mouthfeel: If a 1 is thin in body and a 10 is full and robust then I'd call this one a soft 9. It's definitely got some body to it but just drinks so well it never feels cloying or too filling. The carbonation is average and nothing special but I bet this would be a real treat on cask.

Final Thoughts: I've reviewed a lot of Schell's beers because they are local and offer their brews at a low price point. Although most of the selection is quite pedestrian and less than stellar, I'm happy to note that this Barleywine of theirs is quite good. The brewers at August Schell's obviously know what they're doing. Would I drink it again? Yes, sign me up if they tap a cask!

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into an unbranded short stemmed tulip/snifter

Thanks to Oboogie for this brew.

Pours a jewel-toned ruby amber capped by a one and a half finger bone white creamy head. Above average retention as the head slowly recedes to a foam ring that leaves behind hints of lacing here and there. Very promising nose, deep fruit tones, toffee, and boozy alcohol. Caramel, toffee, fig, rich dates, and accents of apple peel. Finishes with boozy alcohol smoothed out by nutty caramel notes. Full body, moderate carbonation, smooth and silky on the palate. A very solid English barleywine. This is the first brew I've had from Schell's and it was a good one to sample first. Look forward to trying other brews in their Stag Series.